Raph's instinct
by Sweetheart91597
Summary: Sometimes, he just... knows things. He feels it deep inside himself. But this is something that even he could not have seen coming... He would do everything to protect his family and loved ones, but how far would he go? 2.590 readers already! :D Unbelievable! Check the poll on my profile :)
1. Anytime, little bro

Raph's POV

My brothers call me many things.  
Hot-head, meat-head, short-tempered, the muscle of the team,…  
And (I would never admit this to my brothers or Splinter) they're right.  
That's my 'function' in the team: I'm the muscle, Leo's the leader, Donnie's the brain and Mikey is… well, he's just Mikey.

We need everyone on the team to be able to function.  
Without Donnie's gadgets, we would get blown/beaten up.  
Without Leo's leadership, we wouldn't get anything done.  
Without Mikey's craziness, things would just be way to serious.  
And without me being all tough and strong, we wouldn't get out alive.

But right now, I don't know how we are going to do this.  
Because of me, the team is in trouble….

But let's start at the beginning, shall we?

It all started last week Monday…

It was a normal New York night: the sky was filled with gasses and the sound of angry people completed the picture.

We were on an evening patrol, when we were ambushed by the kraang (man, I really can't stand those guys!)  
They attacked us from every possible side. I stayed close to Mikey, just in case.  
I know he's able to defend himself whenever he's attacked. But I think it's my 'big brother instinct' that wants me to protect him anyway. I saw that Leo kept close to Donnie at the other side of the roof. Because I was looking for Leo and Donnie I didn't see the robot that tried to attack Mikey. I still yelled for him, but he didn't hear it…  
The robot slammed Mikey on the back of the head. Mikey crumpled to the ground, but stayed conscious. When he turned around, he saw that the robot pointed his laser gun straight at him.  
As did I.  
I didn't think about what I was doing. The only thing in my mind was to keep my family safe. So I lunged at the robot. He looked up when he heard my screams. I jumped at him and tried to get him away from my little brother.  
… I really should have thought about that. I kept pushing him and hitting him everywhere I could.  
I saw too late that we had reached the edge of the (five floor) building.  
I pushed the robot over,… but he pulled me down together with him. I still heard Mikey yell my name. I cringed. I knew that I was going to die, but I hated myself for having Mikey to see me fall to my death. Somewhere in the middle of the fall, the robot still tried to attack me. I was distracted and so he managed to shoot me in my arm. It hurt more than I thought it would. I kicked him as far away from me as possible.

When the impact came, it hurt a lot… but it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. The ground didn't feel like concrete, but more like… something a little softer. When I opened my eyes (I didn't think I would ever be able to do that again after that fall) I saw darkness and dark green bags…  
Wait, dark green bags?

I tried to look around and then saw where I was: clearly I had fallen straight into a dumpster. I sighed. That had never felt so good!

I tried to sit up, but my arm hurt too much.

So I had to wait for my brothers to come and get me out… Man, I felt like a complete idiot!

Luckily I didn't have to wait very long.  
Only a couple minutes after I had opened my eyes, I heard steps approaching the dumpster. I looked up and saw the very scared face of my purple brother Donnie. When he saw that I was alive and well, he relaxed a bit. He jumped in as well and helped me stand up. After that, he helped me out.

As soon as I was back with my both feet on the ground, Donnie put me down on the ground with my back against the wall. "You okay?", he asked concerned. I rolled my eyes: "Why does everyone ask that same question when the answer is so obvious?! I just fell from a five floor building! Of course I'm not okay!" "Okay, okay… sorry" he replied "what happened to your arm?"  
I looked down at my left arm and looked away immediately. It was covered in blood, which was seeping out of a bullet size wound.  
Before I knew what was happening, Donnie had taken of his mask and tied it around my arm to stop the bleeding. I tried to protest, but when Don's in doctor mode, there is no room for arguing.

When I heard steps on the fire escape above me I wanted to jump up, but Donnie held me down with a smile: "It's just the others".

And indeed, almost immediately after he had said that, Leo and Mikey jumped down and landed a little in front of us. I could hear Mikey sniffing a little. When he turned around and saw that I was fine, he ran at me and hugged me. Even though he almost choked me, it was cute. I hugged him back with my good arm.

When he was close to my ear, he whispered: "Thanks for saving me, bro!"  
I hugged him harder when I replied: "Anytime, little bro… anytime…"

After this little 'brother-moment', Leo and Donnie helped me up and back to our lair.  
There, Donnie and master Splinter took care of my wounds while Leo and Mikey just sat in the room pretending nothing had happened. I was extremely grateful for that.

Little did we know, that this was just the beginning of a whole series of problems…

**Author's note: Hi everyone! If you're still reading this: thanks!  
If this my first story that you read: welcome! :D  
I think it was extremely predictable that Raph would be my next head-character, but anyway…**

**I know, little cliffhanger to start off, but I just like it  
Have faith in me, I won't let it hang for long. **

**You know what to do: read and review! **


	2. Younger brothers

Raph's POV

According to Donnie, I had been very lucky. The wound on my arm wasn't very deep and no muscles or bones were hurt. None the less it still hurt. But I preferred a hurting arm above the loss of one of my brothers. Leo said that I should have thought before I acted. But I knew that if I would have done that, Mikey would have been a goner by now. When I said that, I hadn't noticed that Mikey was listening as well. I only noticed it because the next moment he was hugging me, thanking me again.

It was kind of sweet, actually. But I would never admit that, of course! Instead, I just let him hug me while patting his shell. Leo smiled at the sight of that. He always says that we should fight less, so he likes it to see us hug for a change.  
Mikey is still the same age as us, but a little younger (I think, we don't know for sure). But he is the only one who still hugs us. Most of the time without any reason at all. Probably that's just one of the things we will never understand about him…

Don kept me in his lab for a couple of hours after putting my hurt arm in a sling. It felt better, but it still hurt. He offered me a painkiller, but I declined it. I'm not a baby!  
While I had to stay on the infirmary bed the others stayed with me. Leo sat next to me on the bed, while Donnie was sitting in an armchair with his laptop on his lap. Mikey kept jumping and goofing around. He made us laugh a lot that day. But all of us knew he only did that to cheer me up.  
That's our little brother, always wanting the others to be happy.

After Donnie (finally!) let me leave his lab, the four of us decided to watch some TV. Probably because they didn't want me to tire myself. But for once, I was okay with that.

After about half an hour, we heard some strange sounds coming from the sewers. Don went to check his security system to see if there was anything approaching us.  
After ten minutes, we became worried. Mikey went to his lab to see where he was.  
None of my younger brothers returned…

I could see that Leo found himself in an ambiguous conflict. He wanted to go see what was taking the others so long, but at the same time he didn't dare leave me alone. So I helped him out: "Let's go see what's the problem" He nodded and pulled me to my feet.

There was nothing to be seen in the lab. The books were neatly ordered on the shelves, Don's computer was buzzing a little bit and a green arm came from behind his desk…  
WAIT A MINUTE!  
We ran over to the back of the desk and saw Mikey laying there unconscious. He was a little bruised, but nothing serious. We tried waking him up, but it wouldn't work.

So Leo picked him up, bridal style, and carried him to the sofa. In the meanwhile I went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. When I returned, Mikey still wasn't moving.  
So I tried another tactic. He would kill me for this, but it was the only thing that I could think of to get him to wake up. I kneeled in front of him and said: "Mikey, I'm going to eat your last slice of pizza!"  
Immediately, his eyes popped open and he sat up. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was.  
Then he saw me and Leo. I expected him to yell at us and/or chase us. Instead, he looked extremely scared. Leo went into 'big-brother mode': "What's wrong, Mikey? Where is Donnie?"

"…I… I don't know" Mikey answered "I walked into his lab and I saw him standing at his computer. Then, the lights went out. Someone grabbed me from behind and put something under my nose. The next thing I know is that you guys are standing here"

I looked at Leo. He had a panicked expression in his eyes, but he tried to hide it. "I'm going to see if I can find any clues in the lab", he said. He ran back to the lab while I handed Mikey the water and tried to calm him down.  
After a couple of minutes, Leo returned: "I have found a hole in the wall that leads right into the tunnels. The drilling of that hole was probably the weird sound we heard. So someone came in through there and wanted to kidnap one of us. Maybe for money by selling us to science or maybe to get us to surrender. I don't know. But whoever it was, he was prepared for one of the others to show up. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get Mikey down without alarming us."

Mikey looked extremely worried as he clung to my good arm. Leo put himself down on my other side.

I knew all of us were thinking the same: Where is Donatello?

**Author's note: Thanks to everybody who is reading this! :D It means a lot  
I know, another cliffhanger. I couldn't leave it, it's just way to much fun to write them :D  
Sorry… ;)**

**You know what to do: read, review, send a PM if you have suggestions or just want to say/ask me something and check out my other stories about TMNT or about Sherlock. You can find all of them on my profile. **


	3. Donnie?

Donnie's POV

_Where am I? This doesn't feel like my lab. The last thing I remember is me standing over my computer and Mikey running up to me….  
MIKEY! Where is he? _

All I could see was darkness. I felt that I was chained to a wall. "Mikey?", I tried to yell, but all that came was a whisper. But not a single response. In fact, there wasn't any sound at all.  
Nothing but pure and complete silence. Normally, I would have loved that…  
If I wasn't chained to a wall in the pitch black room without any knowledge of where I was and, maybe even more important, where my brothers were.

_Please guys, get here fast… Where ever here may be…_

Nobody's POV

Back at the lair

While Leo was trying to trace Donnie's T-phone, Raph and Mikey sat on the couch. Mikey had been silent for the last half hour, which showed that he was extremely stressed.  
Raph was sitting next to him watching the floor. He was completely lost in thought. _Something is not right about this_, he kept thinking. But he couldn't figure out what it was. It just didn't make sense to him that the same day that they were attacked by the kraang and that he got hurt, suddenly Donnie disappeared. It was just too much of a coincidence.

When Leo walked out of the lab, he looked sad: "I'm sorry guys. Not a trace…"  
Mikey started to panic: "But how is that possible? Why can't the computer find the signal? It doesn't make sense…" "Calm down, Mikey", Leo said "there aren't so many people that want to hurt us. It could be the kraang, purple dragons, shredder,… That's kind of all of my options. Raph, have you got any more ideas?"  
Raph looked up when he heard his name. He thought about it for a moment, but admitted that he had no idea except for those. But he did have a remark: "We are looking for someone who knows where our lair is. As far as I know, none of our enemies have ever traced our lair. So… this doesn't make sense!"

"That's a very good point!", Leo said "but if it's none of them,… who was it?"  
Raph sighed: "I have no idea! But I can't shake of the feeling that something is wrong about this…"

Donnie's POV

_I'm going crazy here! Nothing to do, to see, not even to hear! Wait! There's a sound…_

On the other side of the door, I heard a deep voice. I couldn't hear what it was saying, but I knew that it was a man's voice…

Shredder? Maybe…  
In that case, I'm in big trouble!  
We could barely defeat him with the four us. But me on my own?_ I'm doomed…_

Then, the door opened. I still couldn't see who it was, because he had been smart enough to turn out the lights in the hallway. But I did hear him loud and clear now.

"Well, well. Look who is awake! Took you long enough. You would think that a clever guy like you would be able to withstand a little hit on the head, right?"  
I growled. I didn't know this guy, but I already couldn't stand him. Although I had the feeling that I had heard that voice before…

He continued: "At least you were able to awake after a little hit on the head. But your little brother… I guess his skull just wasn't so strong…" He let out an evil laugh after this.

I got scared after his last statement. It couldn't be! Mikey was extremely strong! Lazy, crazy and childish,… but strong! He could handle a hit against the head just as good as the other three…  
Right?

"Of course it had been his second hit today, so maybe that's part of the reason why he stopped breathing…" the deep voice continued.

I remembered Mikey getting hit by the kraang, after which Raph lunged at the kraang and hurt himself.  
Then, I realised something: "You have been watching us! You waited for a moment when we were weaker…"  
Then, another realisation hit me: "Mikey… stopped breathing? No… That's impossible…"

"If you say so", the voice replied "But how would you know? You had already passed out before I hit your precious little brother. By the way, why would I lie to you? I have nothing to gain by that, right?"

I shook my head in denial. It couldn't be! Not Mikey… I got a small tear in my eye, but I refused to let it fall. I wasn't going to show any weakness and definitely not in front of this… creep!

"Anyway", he said "I'm going to see if you're remaining brothers are already coming to your rescue. So I can catch them and finish you two together…" after that, he left.

_The TWO of us? But, there's four of us! Maybe not anymore… What if he didn't just get Mikey? What if he also got Leo or Raph?  
_After that, I couldn't hold it anymore. I just let my tears roll down my cheeks.  
Without making a sound, I cried. I wasn't giving that creep the pleasure of hearing me break down…

**Author's note**: **Sorry for the sad chapter, but I needed to put it in to complete the storyline.  
Are some things already starting to become clear?  
Like: Who is Donnie's kidnapper?  
Where does the title come from?  
Why did 'he' tell Donnie that Mikey was dead (although you know he isn't)?  
Why did 'he' say: the TWO of you?  
Why am I asking all of these questions? Ok, you know this one: to mock you a little bit ;) Sorry! :) **

**Keep reading to find out! :D**

**Review or send me a PM! I'm all open to comments and/or suggestions!**

+ **check out the poll on my profile page and vote! :) **


	4. Get him home safely

Nobody's POV

At the lair

Mikey sat on the couch looking at the floor, Leo was pacing the lair trying to figure out where Donnie could be and Raph was sitting on the ground in front of Mikey.  
He tried to think of anyone who could have found out where they lived. But he couldn't think of anything.

Shredder? Nope  
Kraang? Never!  
Purple dragons? Yeah, right!

But who else was there? There had to be something that they didn't think of….  
Someone who had been in their lair…  
Suddenly, something popped up into his head.  
"Leo?", he asked. When he heard his name, Leo stopped pacing and looked at Raph.  
"Where is Splinter?", Raph asked. Leo smiled a little: "Don't worry, he just went into the sewers for a walk"  
Raph sighed from relief. He couldn't handle both his brother and his father getting kidnapped.

Then, Mikey thought of something: "Could April know anything?"  
Leo and Raph looked at Mikey with big eyes, which made Mikey feel uncomfortable. "What?", he asked.  
"Mikey", Leo said "That… is a great idea!" He ran to his room to get his T-phone. Raph still looked at him with big eyes: "I can't believe you thought of that! And, more importantly, we didn't!"  
Mikey rolled his eyes. _Typically Raph_, he thought.

Leo came back while talking on the phone: "No, that's fine. Yeah, sure. We need all the help we can get" He hung up and sat down next to Mikey. "And?", Raph asked. "She got incredibly worried when she heard what had happened", Leo told them "She asked if she could come over to help us in any sort of way. I said that that was okay and she's on her way. She should be here in about 10 minutes"

Five minutes later, they heard footsteps. They looked at the door, ready to jump up and defend themselves if necessary. But it was just April. She came running in and was panting. Mikey jumped up and ran over to her. "You okay?", he asked. "Yeah, just got to catch my breath", she answered.  
"Sure?", Mikey asked. He maybe wasn't the smartest of them, but he was the one who cared most about the wellbeing of his family. And to him, April was part of their family.  
April smiled: "I'm okay, really."  
But just to be sure, Mikey walked right behind her. Just in case.

She sat down on the couch and looked at Leo: "So, what do we know?"  
Leo answered: "I told you all that we know. But Raph made a very good remark. It has to be someone who knows where our lair is" April glared at Raph: "What do you mean by that?"  
"Nothing April!", Raph answered quickly "I definitely don't mean that you blabbed about our hideout, if that's what you think. I only mean that none of our enemies have ever found our lair, so I just don't understand how someone could have managed to break in in Donnie's lab. His security system is extremely strong, you would have to know the weak spots to get through that. So who could have that kind of knowledge?"

April relaxed again: "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you guys to think you have got any reason not to trust me. As for the break in, that's indeed a good point. So it almost would have to be someone who has lived here for quite some time, to know the weak points."

It was quit for a while, when suddenly Raph jumped up: "I got it!" Mikey, who had been sitting on the edge of the couch, fell off because Raph's reaction.  
Leo smiled at the sight of that, but then looked back at Raph: "What is it?"  
"Who do we know who wants to eliminate most of us and who has lived here for plural years?", Raph asked. Mikey jumped back up and said: "Spike!"  
The three teenagers looked at him with big eyes and open mouths. Mikey smiled at this: "Hey, I have got my days!"

Raph smiled a little: "Indeed Mikey! But remember when I only had Spike for a week or two and he had 'run' away? We found him in the sewers, but I asked Don to give him a chip so that we could trace him if it happened again? Maybe that chip still works!"

April jumped up to: "Raph, you're a genius!" She gave him a hug.  
Mikey used his puppy eyes: "But I had two good ideas today!" April smiled and gave Mikey a hug to.  
_Donnie is going to be so jealous!_, he thought.

Leo took off to the lab to trace the chip. When, he came back, they started to make plans. They agreed that Raph and April would stay at the lair and Leo and Mikey would go by themselves.  
Raph disagreed, but lost the fight. He wouldn't be much help with his hurt arm and April would keep him company.

Ten minutes later, Leo and Mikey left.  
Behind them, they could hear Raph yell them a last instruction: "Get him home safely!"

**Author's note: Hi! First off all: happy 2014! :D :) :D :)  
And second, thanks for the support :) It's nice to know that people like my stories.  
You know the drill: Read, review and send me a PM with suggestions, questions,… **


	5. Please, be on time

Nobody's POV

Leo and Mikey had finally traced the place where Spike/Slash should be. It was an abandoned warehouse at the docks. "So typical", Mikey said "Why can't villains be a little more original?"  
Leo shrugged and looked for an entry point. At the main gate stood Slash himself.  
It looked like he was alone, which was quite possible. He was strong enough to handle any attacker that would be stupid enough to try to enter the building. And that was exactly what they were going to try.  
"Mikey, can you distract him while I go look for Donnie?", Leo asked. Mikey looked at Leo and nodded. The usual happy spark had disappeared from his eyes. It had been replaced by a seriousness Leo only saw there when one of his brothers was in trouble.

Mikey took off and got Slash's attention. While he lured Slash away, Leo sneaked in and looked for Donnie. There were barely any rooms in the building, so he had found him relatively easy.  
When he opened the door, his heart almost stopped. Chained to a wall a little above the ground was his brother. He didn't react at all when the door opened. Leo feared the worst.  
When he approached him, Donnie growled like a wild animal. Leo stopped dead in his tracks when he heard his loving brother speak: "If you dare to come any closer, I swear I will rip your limbs off!"  
Don's voice was filled with pure hatred and anger, something like Raph's voice. But a lot more intense.

When Leo took a second look at Don's face, he saw tearstains all over his cheeks.  
That gave him the final bit of courage to speak up: "Donnie?"  
Don looked up and saw his brother walking up to him: "Leo? Leo!" His smile lit up the entire room. After Leo had used his katana's to cut the chains, Don fell down. But Leo caught him easily.  
As soon as he was safely in his brother's arms, Don started sobbing. Leo did nothing but rubbing his shell in circles and whispering comforting words: "It's ok Donnie, you're safe now. I've got you"

"… It's not ok… Mikey… He's got Mikey", Don sobbed.  
Leo's eyes widened: "What did you say?! Mikey?!" Don just nodded.  
Leo looked confused and made Donnie look him in the eyes: "What did he say to you?"  
"…That he would kill me and either you or Raph together because Mikey was already dead…"  
Leo took a moment to let this sink in and then replied: "He lied to you. Mikey is here with me. He's distracting Slash so I could come in and get you"  
Then, Don's eyes widened: "he can't defeat Slash on his own! We have to help him!"  
Leo nodded and then looked at Don's entire body. He had some cuts and scratches, but nothing to serious. Still, he checked with Donnie: "Do you think you can walk?"  
Don nodded and tried to let go of Leo, but as soon as he did he fell down on his knees.  
The shock and the hit on his head made his legs wobbly.

Leo helped him back up and put him on his back. By doing this, he noticed once again how thin his brother was. As soon as he was seated, Leo ran off trying to find Mikey.

When they got outside they heard the sound of fighting coming from behind the building. When they got there, they saw that Mikey had somehow managed to corner Slash. Leo was incredibly proud of his youngest brother. When he really put his mind to something he could accomplish so much!  
But he still put Donnie down against the building an helped Mikey to chain Slash up.

When they were done, they walked back over to Donnie. As soon as Don saw Mikey was quite okay, he tried to get up which only resulted in Mikey running up to him to stop him from trying. "Don't, you'll just hurt yourself", Mikey said.

Donnie stopped trying and didn't reply. Instead, he just hugged Mikey with all the strength he had. By doing this, he caused Mikey to fall on top of him. But he didn't complain. He just hugged back.  
Leo smiled and kneeled to join the hug. It was nice to be together once again.

Suddenly, they heard a breaking noise. When they looked around, they saw that Slash had managed to escape. He was approaching fast and bumped into the brothers.  
By this force, they were split up and thrown all over the place. "Nobody can defeat me!", Slash screamed.

Donnie knew he was right, they didn't even stand a chance without Raph. Mikey had just managed to corner him, but didn't even get one hit in.  
That gave him an idea. He got to his T-phone without that Slash saw it and pressed the emergency button at the side. _I'm so glad I installed that_, he thought.

All that remained now was hoping that Raph would notice and come help them.  
He was their only hope…  
Even when hurt, he could still defeat the three of them combined. So hopefully also his pet turtle.  
Now hoping that he would be on time…

**Author's note: I'm so sorry for the late update! Just all of the parties and school…  
Anyway, you know what to do! R&R! :D **


	6. Alarm!

Back at the lair

Nobody's POV

Raph and April were sitting on the couch watching a comedy. But neither of them was paying attention to the TV. Both were lost in thought about the others.  
April was mainly worried about Donnie. She cared about all of the guys, of course. But Donnie had always had a special place in her heart. Maybe because he had saved her that first day from falling to her death, maybe because of his brains,… she didn't know for sure, but she did know that he didn't deserve to be kidnapped like this.  
Raph was mostly worried about Slash. Although he had tried to kill all of his brothers, to him he was still Spike, his pet turtle. His best friend for all those years. But he also thought that this was the second time Slash started with getting rid of Don. Clearly he thought that he was either the easiest target or that Raph cared the least about him. None of these were true, of course.  
Don was a brilliant fighter! He could win a fight against an army of alien robots with nothing then a wooden stick. He rarely used the blade at all, only in case of emergencies. All of the others needed metal, but he just used simple and plain wood. And of course his massive intellect…

Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded through the lair. Both of the remaining teenagers had been so lost in thought that they fell off of the couch at hearing the alarm. When they looked up, they saw that there were also red light flickering.  
"What's that noise?", April asked. Raph shrugged, he really didn't have a clue.

At that moment, master Splinter came running in: "What's the emergency?"  
Raph looked up at his father from the floor: "What do you mean?"  
Splinter helped both him an April up and then continued: "This is the emergency alarm Donatello has installed about two months ago. It only goes off if one of us presses the emergency button on the T-phone. Haven't you been listening to him at all? He barely talks about anything else"  
Raph shrugged again and grinned a little at April. Then, something clicked in his brain: "What?! There in trouble?! I've got to help them!"  
"Where are they? And what happened to your arm?", Splinter asked now worriedly.  
"Long story short: I got shot, Don got kidnapped, Leo and Mikey are after Slash who took Don and are clearly in a lot of trouble!", Raph explained.

Splinter nodded: "I will hear the details later. Now, you have to go help them. But watch out for your arm! You can find the location on your GPS on your T-phone."  
Raph took his T-phone out and indeed, a big red spot was blinking next to a warehouse.  
"I won't let you down, sensei! I'll get them back", Raph said as he ran off.

"I know you will", Splinter said with a small smile.

Back with Slash

The three turtles were lying in a cage inside the warehouse. All of them had received a hit to the head which had left them unconscious. Both Don and Leo had already awoken, but Mikey wouldn't wake up. Don had tried everything, but nothing worked. The only thing assuring them that Mikey was still alive was the rising and falling of his chest.

Then, Slash entered the building. Leo stood up in front of Mikey with an aggressive look on his face. Don looked just the same, only he stayed down and held Mikey.  
Slash did nothing but glare at them. He didn't even move, he just stood there.  
This gave the turtles a very uncomfortable feeling, but they didn't show it.

Then, Slash finally spoke up: "Well well, all of you losers finally united. Now I can destroy all of you together. And Raph can finally be free"  
"Raph cares about us!", Leo yelled "He'll come to save us and then we will destroy you!"  
Slash glared at Leo: "Really? Who did he come to when you had a fight? Me! Who did he always protect above any of you? Me! Who did he talk to when he wanted to get rid of you so he could work on his own? Me! So, do you really think he will come for you guys? Because I doubt that!"

Leo looked at Don, his eyes filled with fear. Don shared his feeling, he could see it.  
"Is… Is that true, Don?", Mikey asked. Clearly he had woken up and had heard Slash talking.  
Don looked down and hugged his little brother: "Of course not! Raph loves us… Right Leo?" He looked up for some support from his big brother. But what he saw almost stopped his heart.

Leo's eyes were teary and filled with doubt. Because Slash had a very good point! He always did come to him and protected him…  
And did he just say that Raph wanted to get rid of his brothers? That he had ASKED Slash to almost kill them?

Impossible! Raph would never do that!

… Right?...

**Author's note: So sorry for another quite late update! It's been a little busy. Anyway, I hope you still like this! :)  
Read, Review and send me a PM with suggestions/questions/… :D **


	7. Finding and losing

With Raph

While Raph followed the GPS on his phone, his thoughts were with his brothers. He was thinking about everything that had happened that day.  
He hoped that all of his brothers were okay and that Leo and Mikey had been able to get Donnie out.  
But if they had managed to save Don, why had one of them pressed the emergency button?

Finally, he had reached the warehouse. He saw Slash standing outside. The sight of his 'used-to-be best friend' made his heart stop. He could remember the last time he had seen him like it was yesterday.  
How he had tried to kill his brothers and had managed to dislocate Don's shoulder. He had been in pain for a month after that! But he also remember that at a certain moment Slash had fought him and that he had only managed to get out of there alive because of his brothers.  
So how was he going to do this by himself? He only saw one option… but he didn't like it…

He took a deep breath and walked over to Slash as calm and controlled as he could.  
_Just as serious as Leo would do it_, he thought.  
When Slash saw him he grinned mischievously: "Well hello Raphael. How have you been?"  
"The usual", Raph answered casually "I heard you caught my brothers?"  
Slash nodded: "You know what? They actually think that you are going to rescue them! How pathetic! Right?"  
Raph laughed: "Right Like I would come all the way here while my arm is hurt just to help them! We do nothing but fight!" Inside, he was boiling with rage. But in order to make his plan work, he had to control his temper.  
"Want to see them?", Slash asked. Raph nodded: "Yes, I do. Show me those losers!"

When they walked into the warehouse, Raph searched the entire room for his brothers. When he saw them sitting in the cage with their back to him, he felt terrible about himself. If he had made sure that Spike never got mutated into Slash, nothing of this would have happened. He also saw that Donnie had several cuts and bruises and that he hold Mikey in his arms. Not good if Mikey is so quiet!

"Hello guys!", Slash yelled "There's someone who wants to see you!"  
The other turtles turned around to face Slash and smiled when they saw Raph. But their smiles faded when they saw the grin on his face.  
"Hello boys", Raph said "How have you been?"

Mikey looked at Don with a look filled with fear, which made Don hold him a little tighter.  
Leo still faced him. He had always learned never to turn your back to an enemy…  
"I heard you wanted me to come and rescue you?", Raph asked. Leo nodded.  
After that, he burst out in evil laughter: "You must be kidding me! Our fearless leader can't get out himself?"  
Leo growled. They had never been the closest, but this was just plain rude!

"And it gets better!", Raph added "Even our own genius can't find a way to break out of a cage! And you call yourself a scientist?! When was the last time something didn't explode in your face or almost killed us?"  
Even though Don looked angry, you could see the hurt on his face. True, he had had some failures these last few weeks. But that didn't give Raph the right to say stuff like that!

"Even our little sunshine is down!", Raph continued "Really, how many times can you be so careless to not watch your back in one day? I think we're on three now, right? But you've never been very bright anyway, so I guess I should have expected that from you…"  
Mikey didn't even try to hide the hurt on his face. Unbelievable that his brother just had said that!

But Slash was enjoying all of this. Finally he and Raph were a team! Finally those stupid brothers wouldn't hold Raph back! Finally he had gotten rid of them! Well, almost rid of them…  
"Now, let's finish them!", Slash said. He walked to a crate on the other side of the warehouse and got a small gun out. He put some bullets in there and pointed it at the turtles in the cage, who had moved very close to each other. Both Don and Mikey looked terrified, but Leo looked strangely calm and just put his arms around his brothers while still keeping an eye on Raph.  
Something about all of this was wrong… But he couldn't say what it was…

Just as Slash wanted to fire, he changed his mind. He lowered the gun and handed it to Raph: "Do you want the honour?" Leo kept a very close eye on Raph, when he answered: "I would love to!"  
Raph took the gun from Slash and then took a deep breath.  
Then, he pointed the gun at his brothers. He tried to find the right angle to get the bullet where he wanted him to be.

A couple seconds later, the entire street heard the gunshot…

**Author's note: thanks for reading! I know, scary and a little sad. It will get better, I promise! :)  
Read and Review! :D  
Sorry about another cliffhanger… I just like writing those ;)**


	8. Thoughts on finding

Chapter 7 from Raph's POV

I swear I was terrified when I was on my way to my brothers. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what their condition might be. Where they hurt?... or worse?  
When I saw Slash, my heart stopped. I saw everything that had happened to him like it was yesterday.  
I tried desperately to come up with some sort of plan to help them without having Slash turn against me.  
Then, I got an idea. If I would be able to get Slash to trust me, I had the slightest chance that he would leave the four of us alone and then I could get them out!  
But to do that, I had to hurt my brothers. And even if it were just words, I didn't like the idea of intentionally really hurting them. Sure, I bully them every day. But to really try to hurt them…  
That's something else. But I didn't have a choice.

So I walked over to Slash, trying to stay as calm and serious as possible. _Just as serious as Leo would do it_, I thought.  
At first, I thought Slash would see right through me. But he didn't.  
When I had to deny that I came here to help my brothers, it hurt me more than I would ever admit. But I had to play along or otherwise Slash would become suspicious.  
When he asked me if I wanted to see him, my heart grew. My plan was working!

When I saw my brothers, I felt incredibly guilty about the entire situation. If I had made sure that Spike never got mutated into Slash, nothing of this would have happened. I also noticed that Don was hurt a little and that Mikey was unbelievable quiet. Not good! Don held him in his arms, which probably wasn't a good sign either.  
But I had to continue my plan… No matter the consequences.

"Hello boys", I said "How have you been?" _Act normal! _The hope fading in their eyes was physically hurting me. I noticed that Don held Mikey a little closer, like he wanted to protect him from me.  
"I heard you wanted me to come and rescue you?", I asked. When Leo nodded, I knew the next phase of my plan had to start. _Action!_

I burst out in evil laughter: "You must be kidding me! Our fearless leader can't get out himself?" I saw that Leo got angry, but I also saw the slightest bit of hurt behind his eyes.  
_Please Leo, see my true intentions! I don't mean a word I'm saying! You have to see that, right?_

I continued with the next brother in line: "And it gets better! Even our own genius can't find a way to break out of a cage! And you call yourself a scientist?! When was the last time something didn't explode in your face or almost killed us?" It broke my heart to say things like that, but I had to. Donnie also got angry, but the hurt was clearly visible on his face.  
_Please Donnie, don't believe me! I care for you and you're brilliant! I don't mean it!_

Before I had started on Mikey, I already knew that this one would hurt me the most: "Even our little sunshine is down! Really, how many times can you be so careless to not watch your back in one day? I think we're on three now, right? But you've never been very bright anyway, so I guess I should have expected that from you…" I saw the pain on his face, he didn't even try to hide it. It hurt me more than I ever could have imagined to have my youngest brother look at me like that knowing that I had caused it.  
_Mikey, don't believe me! You know better than that! Right? _

When I looked at Slash, I knew it was worth it. He totally believed it!  
But when I thought I had everything under control, Slash spoke up again: "Now, let's finish them!"  
It took all of my willpower not to speak up. And even more when he took out a gun. The guys had seen this as well and looked beyond scared. They all looked terrified! Well, all except Leo. Maybe he had seen his true intentions! But even if he had, Slash would kill them right before his eyes and there was nothing I could do about it!

When Slash offered me the chance to shoot his brothers, I noticed that they kept a very close eye on me. Especially Leo.  
Suddenly, I got an idea. _I already have tried to be Leo today. Maybe I should try being Donnie? _I grinned a little and took the gun from Slash: "I would love to!"

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I only had one chance to get this shot right, so I couldn't make any mistake.  
I pointed the gun at my brothers and tried to find the right angle to get the bullet exactly where I wanted it to be.  
I saw Donnie trying to find out what I was going to do. Suddenly, his eyes snapped back at me. His eyes grew big and he shook his head, like he was begging me not to do it.

But I already knew that didn't have a choice.  
And then… I pulled the trigger.  
And I think the entire street heard that gunshot.

**Author's note: Hi! I'm sorry that I made the cliffhanger maybe even worse. I just like writing them ;)  
A huge thanks to all my followers and readers in general! :D It means the world to me knowing that people like what I do! **

**Read and Review! :) **


	9. Fight!

Donnie's POV

_Don't do it… Don't do it… Don't do it… _At that moment, Raph pressed the trigger and the bullet was launched. _And he did it… NO!_

All I could think was: why is he doing this?! _The way he is shooting, the bullet will hit him straight in the heart! He will die!  
_But right before the bullet hit my brother, Slash jumped in front of him and caught the bullet in his shield. It was incredibly big, so I would be surprised if he would even be hurt at all.  
But he stayed down anyway.

Then, Raph came running up to our cage and handed me his sai: "Pick the lock!"  
I nodded and started prying. While I was working, OI could hear my brothers talking.  
"What were you thinking, man?!", Leo asked "You could have been killed!"  
"But I'm not!", Raph replied "look, I'm perfectly fine! And now, we will get out of here before Slash wakes up again and we can continue our lives like all of this never happened"

Then, I finally managed to open the lock. Normally, it would have been faster. But my hands were shaking.  
The second I pushed the door, Leo jumped out and punched Raph in his good arm: "That's for scaring me like that! You idiot!" Raph looked at the ground: "I'm sorry guys, I just couldn't think of any other way to get you guys out"  
Leo smiled: "I'm not mad at you. I'm just happy that we're all going to be okay." And he put his arm over Raph's shoulder and pulled him a little closer. And Raph didn't argue at all for once.

In the meantime, I had been helping Mikey up and leading him out of the cage. He had received quite some hits that day and I wasn't sure how much damage there was.  
I had expected that as soon as he could, he would hug Raph. But he didn't. Instead, he hugged me.  
He didn't say a word. He just put his arms around my neck and pulled me close.  
I saw that Leo was just as surprised as I was. And Raph looked a little hurt even.

"You… LIAR!", Slash yelled. He had woken up and clearly figured out that Raph had betrayed him.  
"You're nothing better than those pathetic brothers of yours!"  
"Nobody insults my brothers except me!", Raph yelled back. He immediately stood in front of us, but Leo was soon by his side: "You can't fight him on your own, Raph! And definitely not in your current condition!" Raph looked Leo in the eyes and showed a small smile.  
Then, Leo turned to me and Mikey: "Don, get Mikey out of here now! We'll meet you in the lair"  
"No way that I'm going to leave you guys alone!", I replied. I had almost lost Raph once that day, I wasn't going for a second time!

Raph sighed: "fine! But get Mikey out of here anyway" I nodded and helped Mikey outside through the backdoor. After I had put him down next to some crates and convinced him that he couldn't be of any help at that moment, I returned to my brothers.

I had been gone for barely two minutes. But the sight had completely changed by the time I returned. Leo was lying on the ground with Slash hovering over him. Raph was lying against a metal pole a couple feet away.  
I grabbed my bo staff and ran up to Leo. I jumped in front of him before Slash could make any move.  
"What are you gonna do with that stick?", Slash asked with a grin  
I pulled the blade out: "You want me to show you?"

Slash's eyes grew big. I started to lure him away from Leo and to the other side of the warehouse.  
Then, he managed to get my staff out of my hands and threw it out of my reach.  
After that, he hit me so hard I got the breath pushed out of me when I hit the wall.  
I could do nothing but gasp and try to get some air. But before I managed to get some, he pulled me up and held me by my neck.

Then, he suddenly released me and fell down. Because he had released me, I fell down as well and continued to try to get some air. When I looked up, I saw Leo standing behind Slash holding his katana. Clearly, he had hit Slash with the handle.  
When he looked at me, he came rushing to my side and put his hand on my shoulder: "Are you okay?" He looked beyond worried. I tried to nod, but it didn't work out because I still couldn't "breathe properly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Raph standing up and running up to me as well.  
As soon as he reached me, he kneeled next to me and rubbed me shell: "Calm down, Donnie. Take it easy. Slow, deep breaths".

That worked. Finally, I managed to get my breathing under control. I smiled at Raph and then at Leo.  
"We should go back to Mikey", Leo said. Raph nodded and got up. Leo pulled me to my feet.  
"What do we do with Slash?", I asked. Raph looked at his used-to-be best friend. He looked very sad.  
"What if we lock him up?", Leo asked. "That sounds good to me", I added.

We pulled Slash into the cage and closed it with the key we had found in Slash's belt. I handed it to Raph. He took it and put it safely away in his belt.  
When we got back to Mikey, we kneeled down next to him he hugged both me and Leo.  
But still not a single sign of affection for Raph.

"let's head back to the lair", Leo proposed. Everyone agreed.  
Leo supported Mikey while I stayed close to Raph. I couldn't help but notice that he went back inside before he left. I slowly followed him.  
I saw him kneel down next to the cage where Slash was still lying unconscious. Then, he put the key next to the cage within reach of Slash.  
I knew I should have said something or stopped him, but I couldn't. I felt the pain he felt at that moment.  
When he returned, I knew he had seen me. But he didn't say anything and neither did I.  
We just Continued our way home.

When we arrived there, April hugged me. I was startled but extremely happy of course. I noticed the others looking at me from the couch and winking. After the hug, me and April joined them on the couch.  
"And now", Raph said "I want to tell you guys something"

**Author's note: Hi! :D Sorry, still small cliffhanger. Maybe you already noticed, but this one will be longer than the others, probably 2 or 3 more chapters. :)**

**Thanks for reading! Review and/or send me a PM :) **


End file.
